Dobells' in Cheltenham is site for Staverton discussion

Dobell's pub Monday night was the meeting place for a collection of campaigners looking to stop Staverton expand - various groups represented including Green Party, FoE, CASE and the campaign group 'Plane Stupid' - I have heard it said that to be considered a true 'Cheltonian' one has to have been born within the sound of the 'Dobells' - anyhow we kicked off with a look at how we all felt Camp Hope had gone...

To my mind Camp Hope was a bit of a turning point - 5 years ago I raised the issue re the proposed expansion - the airport has tried to deny they are expanding - even tried to deny climate change existed - now with their planning applications this year they can no longer deny expansion plans - indeed already they have extra scheduled flights: their CO2 emissions are on the rise. I had a letter in the Western Daily Press yesterday on this topic (see here).

Camp Hope was significant in that it is an indication of the wide level of support - I had loads of emails sent and many didn't go but the demonstration raised the issue. It also brought together campaigners from various organisations who can hopefully reach people more effectively together.

I can't discuss all meeting here but other topics included:
- the link between the airport and cancers in the community - I've mentioned this before on this blog and the evidence is not very conclusive either way. To my mind there are enough arguments without needing to also use this.
- recent media attention has been concentrating on the protesters rather that the airport. This maybe a human interest angle but detracts from the important message re climate change - and for that matter other issues like noise, pollution, traffic etc.
- feedback from the SW Green party meeting in Bath which was open to all campaigners to discuss SW airport expansions (several from Glos went): hopefully a new email list to be set up soon - anyone interested let me know.
- Cheltenham Borough - several questions were submitted to the last scrutiny committee meeting. Meetings have also been held with some councillors and Martin Horwood MP. He stated that his position is no longer that “the changes are safety related and are not expansion” - he now has an open mind. Campaigners also met the prospective Conservative candidate for Cheltenham - no firm commitment re a position.
- Gloucester City - discussion about how best to ask questions.
- Tewkesbury planning committee - still no date for application to be seen.
- Various actions have been suggested to continue to highlight the moral, environmental and economical madness of airport expansions.

Infact several calls to make now - any blog readers interested in getting involved more do contact me....